by Evidently 38 Replies latest jw friends
My grandfather became a Bible Student in New Zealand along with my grandmother in the 1920s. As 1975 drew near, he said to me with his inimitable frowningly serious look, "In all my years in the truth, I have never been more convinced that the end is near".
He was right: he died 1976. Meanwhile the world goes on and on and on and on...
During the first Gulf War many returned to the meetings...we didn't know we would have Gulf War 2 .......and 9/11 even I thought that was the end, but things went back to normal after awhile....mankind fixes it's disasters and struggles onward.
Bottom line, if this is the most calamitous period in human history, then the population growth should logically be at the lowest point in human history.
but look at this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Population_curve.svg
An incredible population explosion--just the opposite.
Just remind them of how certain it was that the world was ending in 1925. I mean, that was totally going to happen...
They say that we've never had all of these things happening all at once like we've had the past few weeks.....
We've never had multiple cable news channels with time to fill either.
Bring_the_Light
Considering their take on prophecy, (ie. Revelation Book).. I'd say they may be too busy making up new revelations to see the real ones take place.
Bubonic pague and flu have at various times wiped out millions. About half of Europe died in the 14th century.
There have been much worse losses of life in the past.
Each generation of humans has been so caught up in its own self-appointed unique standing that it fails to stand back and take in all of recorded history when it confidently proclaims that current events are the absolute worst they could ever be.
Wow, I am SO happy that I haven't heard from my family in several years!
They are all over me with all of these "end of this System of Things" signs......earthquakes, cyclones, pestilences, cost of food to lead to food shortages, blah, blah, blah....Did they make an announcement at the KH that "this is it!!" They say that we've never had all of these things happening all at once like we've had the past few weeks.....
Interesting...
This reminds me of an article I read recently in Newsweek Magazine (May 12, 2008 issue). In the article they are dicussing the Post-American World.
A team of scholars has been engaged in a fascinating study. Their data shows that wars of all kinds have been declining steadily since the mid 1980's and that we are now at the lowest levels of global violence since the 50's. Steven Pinker, a Harvard professor speculates that we are probably living "in the most peaceful time of our species' existence." It just doesn't feel that way because we live in an unprecidented age of information. We are bombarded with news stories and images from around the world 24-7. Every weather disturbance is the "storm of the decade." Every bomb that explodes is Breaking News.
Anyway, I found it very interesting when the article said that in spite of the war in Iraq and other modern political conflicts, the underlying reality across the globe is one of enormous vitality. For the first time ever, most countries around the world are practicing sensible economics... poverty rates are noticably declining, the global economy has more than doubled.
It just goes to show you that in spite of all the propaganda we are faced with, we are indeed in one of the most peaceful ages of our existence, the difference is that because of news media, along with the world wide web, we know more about events going on in the world than anyone did in the past.
